Topic Of The Week
DONBASS PERSPECTIVES
What ‘shale gas’ in the east of Ukraine was Energy Minister Boiko talking about?
Over the past 20 years, which have been described as a period of globalization and market fundamentalism, the natural gas industry has changed drastically. The world has quickly assessed the economic and environmental benefits of this «blue fuel.» Thanks to this, producers have begun rapidly to increase its production, improving production technology and delivery. The swift gas price increase in 1995-2008 made many new extraction technologies cost effective. They made it possible to develop not only conventional deposits of natural gas located mainly in turbulent regions of the globe but also produce unconventional gas, reserves of which have been found in practically every country on the face of the Earth.
Anti-counterfeit Campaign
THE SHOW GOES ON…
Western Ukrainian refineries have become the talk of the town when it comes to the production of high quality fuel in Ukraine. As Terminal has learned, it’s wrong to accuse the companies of inaction – they have prepared a number of basic and working blueprints for new equipment, placed orders for its production, and some of the hardware has already been delivered. Perhaps they are more interested than those who criticize them in speeding up the situation, as operating equipments means jobs.
MINI CRIMINALS
As Terminal has learned, state-run company Ukrtransnafta last year managed to uncover a group of criminals who were selling crude oil illegally siphoned from an oil pipeline. This business had grown to a large scale, and in spite of its discovery…
Scandals
SCANDAL OF THE WEEK: It’s Not Just Money That Can Bring A Ukrainian Company To Court
XADO HOLDING’S INTELLECTUAL BATTLE
On January 10, 2012, Donetsk’s Economic Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court’s ruling – Donetsk region’s Economic Court, which on November 22, 2011, prohibited Suprotec LLC to use the SUPROTEC trademark for goods and services. According to information available to Terminal, this ruling was made to satisfy a claim filed by Kharkiv-based XADO Holding LLC.
Forecast
FOCUSING ON DETAILS
At the end of January, the issue of Iran ran out of steam, which was reflected in the sluggish reaction of markets on attempts to revive the Iranian issue in the United States. Besides, Europe is now busy with more urgent matters, including constant democracy advocate French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But there is a detail: the presidential election is pending.
GROWTH OVER THE HORIZON
Under economic forecasts given by the Psyche Center on the basis of a regressive analytical model, this week the price of major fuel brands will change slightly. The average retail price of A-92 and A-95 petrol to DSTU 4063:2001 standards and winter-type 0.2-(-5) diesel fuel to DSTU 3868-99 will be UAH 9.97, UAH 10.22 and UAH 9.64 per liter respectively.
Trade
WHO IS TO BLAME?
Last week saw three significant events, which did not seem to be related. Hundreds of Polish drivers blocked traffic on the highways, the governor of the western Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi demanded that his subordinates «start unscheduled checks on filling stations in the Bukovyna area,» and drivers in the Russian city of Surgut were asked «to report where expensive gasoline is sold.»
Raw Materials
KARMA
Despite the fact that the Law of Ukraine «On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine concerning the revision of the rates of some taxes and fees» was signed by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych way back on December 22, 2011, it was published only in the middle of January 2012. After carefully reading it, crude oil producers discovered a pleasant surprise in its last paragraph…
You can read full articles in journal «Terminal: Oil Review» №5 (591) 6 Feb 2012
